Issue 004

June 2005

Pequeno’s brother spends 24 seconds in his (MMA) debut

JFF 2 April 16th, 2005 at Sport Clube Juiz de Fora - BRAZIL

When Juiz de Fora Fight was held for the first time Marcelo ‘Uirapuru’ Azevedo came to the event as the champion with a tremendous responsibility. Organised as an eight-man tournament, the event would either make or break Azevedo’s fighting career after losing twice at MMA. He went on to win three fights that night, earning the respect of the crowds and fellow fighters and becoming an idol in Juiz de Fora.

This time Juiz de Fora Fight 2 wasn’t very different: how can you get into the MMA scene when you have a brother who has successfully defended his title more than 5 times, without having any reservations? The pressure of such a daunting debut fight can harm any strategy or game-plan you may have. 

The card for the fight, held in Rio de Janeiro, was made up of 8 fights, with the headline attraction being the debut bout of Leonardo Nogueira, brother of Pequeno — king of Shooto.

Leonardo was a bundle of nerves and anxious as he stepped up to the ring for his bout, the third on the card. In the opposite corner was local man Cezar Augusto ‘Gordinho’ — also making his debut. This was the opportunity of a lifetime for the local fighter — if he could beat Leonardo. When the referee got the fight underway both contestants circled one another, studying each other intensely, both fighters decided to go for low kicks and both realised that this tactic wasn’t going to work. Leonardo was quick to change his strategy and shot a takedown with Gordinho trying to sprawl. But Leonardo lifted him and slammed Gordinho’s body against the mat. Still shaken, Gordinho did wake up to put Leonardo on the bottom — but this was a grave miscalculation. Leonardo took the advantage and sunk a perfect guillotine choke, making Gordinho tap out in less than 30 seconds.The other seven fights on the card were very good, with only one going to a decision. But most of the fighters were unheard of! The difficulty of covering an event where you watch unknown contestants from Rio is the lack of information about the fighters — the lack of promotion.

I witnessed many good fighters with decent form and interesting histories who I had never heard of, like Igor Araujo, Paulo Shogun and Cezar Augusto ‘Ouriço’. It’s hard to understand why the promoters of these events made no effort to promote the card and its contestants.

In a blistering fight between Elton Cruz and Ronald Bauer, Cruz KO’d Bauer but didn’t stop punching despite referee Ebenezer Braga jumping in to stop the massacre. Cruz landed at least eight severe blows to Braga’s back before someone stepped in to contain and calm Cruz down. After the event Cruz told me it wasn’t anything personal against Bauer but an adrenaline rush! 

The king of throws, Edson Chulapa, fought in the second bout of the card. Chulapa is known in submission events as a fighter who loves to use suplex and counter-takedowns. But in this contest, his second in MMA, he surprised everyone and opted for a strike against Ricardo Caetano’s face with his feet, combined with punches and knees. The shorter Caetano didn’t have the reach to strike Chulapa. Instead they locked-up and went to ground. With Caetano on top, Chulapa used his long legs to sink a triangle and Caetano was forced to submit after 1:53 minutes into the first round.

The fourth bout of the card seemed to be little more than pedestrian in the first three minutes, when Rafael dos Anjos and Felipe ‘Mongo’ Arinelli just kept getting into clinches and trading knee blows. Mongo did knee Rafael’s face first, and then he took the fight down. Fighting from the bottom, Rafael received several strikes from Mongo but they weren’t very hard. When they got back to their feet the blows traded seemed to be ineffectual. 

The second round started much in the same way but this time Mongo took the fight to ground within the first 1:30 minutes. He attempted a sequence of punches but Rafael’s guard and defence was up. Mongo woke up to kick the legs of ttRafael and was clearly getting the better of Rafael in the combat, managing to keep him on the ground. Mongo, however, tried to get close to Rafael in an attempt to strike him. But in doing so his head connected with Rafael’s knee leaving a bleeding gash on his eyebrow. The bout was stopped so the cut man could check the damage and Mongo wasn’t allowed to return to the ring. Rafael won by a TKO in round two.

After the fight the unlucky Mongo told us: “Man I can’t believe I lost to Rafael, I was giving him hell when I jumped into his space to pound him. The cut was bad, but I wanted to come back to fight and kill Rafael, the cut man didn’t let me. I’ve not been lucky this time, but I need to win my two next bouts and I’m hungry for a victory.”

The fifth bout was a classic brawl — Fabiano Oliveira and Kall have a lot of heart but still need to learn how to trade punches. They fought a high-paced contest and got gassed in the third. However, the first two rounds were a display of intent to trade striking blows, with both nearly submitting on a number of occasions. This fight was the only one on the card that went to a decision, yet it was one of the most exciting of the event. Oliveira was declared victorious in a unanimous decision after three rounds.

Full results

Paulo Shogun def. Fred Willison (Caveirinha Combat) by verbal tap out at 3:50 R2

Edson Chulapa (CT Elite) def. Ricardo Caetano (Gracie Barra Pitbull) by triangle at 1:53 of R1

Leonardo Nogueira (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo) def. Cezar Augusto ‘Gordinho’ (Caveirinha Combat) by guillotine at 0:24 of R1

Rafael dos Anjos (Caveirinha Combat) def. Felipe ‘Mongo’ Arinelli (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo) by TKO(cut) in R2

Fabiano Oliveira (Renato Vieira/Bruno Carvalho) def. Kall (CT Elite) by unanimous decision in R3

Cezar Augusto ‘Ourico’ (Passarinho) def. Denilson Negao (Caveirinha Combat) by guillotine at 2:50 of R1

Elton Cruz (Caveirinha Combat) def. Ronald Bauer (Bauer JJ) by KO at 0:25 of R1

Igor Araujo (Caveirinha Combat) def. Santa-Rita (Toca dos Leoes) by kneebar at 0:32 of R1